Takashinga 1 win league

IN a dramatic and befitting end to the country’s elite club cricket competition, the National Premier League (NPL) it was Takashinga Patriots 1 who emerged as the champions after the completion of matches yesterday.

Net run-rate came to the rescue of the Harare-based side who were tied on 110 points alongside Uprising Cricket Club and defending champions, Gladiators Cricket Club. The eventual champions, Takashinga 1 finished with a net run-rate of 2,846.

Their crowning as champions came after they recorded a close three wickets win over Gladiators at Old Hararians Sports Club yesterday.

During the course of the match, the top spot interchanged between them, Uprising and Gladiators. Gladiators went into the final round sitting at the top of the standings, before at some point, Uprising removed them only for Takashinga 1 to go all the way and claim the honours.

Uprising finished in second place and were followed by Gladiators and Takashinga Patriots 2 in third and fourth respectively.

In yesterday’s match, Takashinga 1 won the toss and elected to field first and they went on to bowl out their opponents for 270 runs in 43,4 overs before going to chase down the target in 44,1 overs, finishing on 272/7.

Tapiwa Mufudza was the pick of the bowlers for the eventual champions as he finished with figures of 3/48 in his nine over spell while Tanaka Chivanga, Wellington Masakadza and the skipper Roy Kaia took two scalps each. For Gladiators, Wessly Madhevere’s century helped them put a defensible score on the board.

The young Madhevere top scored with a brilliant 117 runs from 101 deliveries while Malcom Chikuhwa remained undefeated two runs short of his half century on 48 runs from 41 balls.

In their chase, Takashinga 1 lost the wicket of their opener, Joylord Gumbie in the fourth over for 21 runs but their middle order stepped up to the task with two players scoring half centuries. Roy Kaia top scored with 57 runs after facing 59 balls while Innocent Kaia fell for 52 runs off 80 balls to help their team collect the much-needed maximum points.

Hamilton Masakadza was their third leading run scorer with 43 runs from 34 balls. Cromen Zinyama finished with figures of 3/64 for Gladiators while Munashe Zata claimed two wickets and gave away 21 runs in 4,1 overs.

As Takashinga Patriots 1 were celebrating winning the league on net run-rate, it was a heartbreaking afternoon for Amakhosi Cricket Club who missed out on a top eight finish due to net run-rate as well. Amakhosi finished tied on 60 points alongside Kadoma Cricket Club but the latter had a better net run-rate of 0,818 compared to that of the Bulawayo giants’ -0,236.

A defeat for Kadoma yesterday against Mbizo Cricket Club would have seen Amakhosi maintain number eight on the standings.

Amakhosi finished in ninth place and were the highest placed team from Bulawayo followed by Queens Cricket Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC) in number 10 and 11 respectively.

A top eight finish would have seen Amakhosi qualify for the NPL T20 Blast.

In other matches played yesterday, BAC registered a four wickets win over Westside Cricket Club while Rainbow Cricket Club edged Mutare Sports Club by five wickets.

Queens Cricket Club thumped Golden Bulls by 152 runs while Takashinga 2 finished on a high after a 42 runs win over Uprising. In the last game, Kadoma Cricket Club proved strong for Mbizo Cricket Club, registering a 58 runs victory to complete the end of the one-day NPL tournament.

The eight teams who have qualified for the NPL T20 Blast are Takashinga Patriots 1, Uprising Cricket Club, Gladiators Cricket Club, Takashinga Patriots 2, Westside Cricket Club, Rainbow Cricket Club, Mutare Sports Club and Kadoma Cricket Club.